Episode Summary

The gang drive from a bad Mets game when they get caught in traffic due to the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade, they go their four ways and encounter odd happenings; Jerry begins a rivalry with a man in a Maroon Golf Car, George sneaks into a cinema in the hopes of yelling out a one-liner during a climatic moment and Kramer pretends to be a tenant in an apartment to use the bathroom. Elaine tries to escape the madness by several means but fails. In the end; Jerry's car is trashed when Kramer burns the Puerto Rican Flag by accident and the gang walks home.moreless

The "Banning" - The Laughably Ludicrous Part

And what is the most ridiculously ludicrous thing about the syndication prohibitions (the "banning") of this episode of Seinfeld?

Only in the United States! Only in the US would the majority - the VAST majority - grovel and kowtow before the humorless zealots of the minority. Only here. Typical.

And why do I say "Only in the United States?"

You have to love the irony here...The "ban" is ONLY applied in US television markets. "The Puerto Rican Day" episode is almost always included in the syndicated reruns when this series airs in other countries.And what's the most ludicrous part? ...Every major Latino television market in South America that airs syndicated "Seinfeld" reruns regularly includes this episode.moreless

It's almost as if someone doesn't want this episode to be seen. I've only seen it once in syndication. Both TBS and FOX skip over it every time they run the ninth season...moreless

It's almost as if someone doesn't want this episode to be seen. I've only seen it once in syndication. Both TBS and FOX skip over it every time they run the ninth season.

It was probably the weakest episode of that season but I don't remember it being controversial or anything like that to justify never being aired except I guess to Puerto Ricans.I will now repeat myself for people who read from the bottom up. . . . . . .It was probably the weakest episode of that season but I don't remember it being controversial or anything like that to justify never being aired except I guess to Puerto Ricans.moreless

So this episode was banned in the USA huh?! not in Australia it wasnt.. they played it all the time on TV..

Everyone needs 2 lighten up... seriously... and that there were protesters..... Lighten up u jerks... some people e are so uptight... relax

if people were ok with the contest episode.. this episode is fine.. nothings wrong with it..

They played it over and over all the time in Australia... and I never heard of people being upset about it...It was a pretty funny episode...On the way back from a lopsided Mets game, the gang gets caught in a neverending traffic jam complicated by the Puerto Rican Day Parade. The day ends with all four in very compromising situations.moreless

The "Banned" Episode!

I had only seen this once when it was on NBC, until I watched it on the season 9 DVD last night. I forgot how entertaining this episode was. Especialy George with the laser pointer being pointed at him, and Kramer as H.E. Pennypacker. On the DVD, it is interesting to watch the Inside Look feature for this episode to see why this episode was banned. It was actually the fact of the burning of the Puerto Rican flag that upset many Puerto Rican people. I didn't really like the maroon Golf guy though. The same guy appeared in "The Engagement" episode when him and Jerry were walking out of Firestorm.moreless

I agree with the last reviewer on this...

I have only seen this episode once too, I had to dowload it because i wanted to see it again, I waited to see if Fox was going to play it when they were going through the final season in order, and they just skip it. I think i heard somewhere that the episode is most of the time skipped because there is a part in the episode where Kramer burns the Puerto Rican flag, which may offend some viewers. But it's not like it was done in bad taste, it was an accident and they don't offend any puerto ricans in the episode. Still i thought it was good, Karmer, Georger and Jerry all using their fake names, classic.moreless

As Elaine leaves the car in the beginning, Jerry says "You can't just leave the group!" to which Elaine replies "I've been trying to leave this group for ten years." In some syndications, this line is cut, and after Jerry says the line, she immediately says "Vaya con dios!"

After George gets his sunglasses, Jerry raises the potential of the laser beam to go in through the side of the glasses, saying, "Wouldn't it just bounce back and forth between the cornea and the mirror?" There is no mirror on the inside of sunglasses; if there was, people would not be able to see out through them!

Anyone notice that in syndication they cut out the whole subplot about Elaine's "sunday weekend windown routine"? There is only one reference to it when they are going under the bleachers, and it seems oddly out of place.

They say a joke isn't funny if you have to explain it. But the "con dios" reply was hilarious if you understand Kramer's wacky, not a renaissance-man type humor. I was roaring when I heard the joke. "Vaya con dios!" Kramer wrinkles his nose "Con dios? That was rude" Get it? He thinks it means something that it doesn't. That's the joke. It has nothing to do with the writers thinking no one will understand spanish. Quite the opposite, they think the viewers WILL understand that phrase.

I love Seinfeld, but the first scene, with the four driving down the freeway, was not incredibly well done. The major flaw occurs when Jerry cuts off Maroon Golf, and the group continues to stare at him to the right of Jerry's car. If they cut the man off, he should now be behind them. Not too realistic.

Kramer: Okay, here's the deal. He wants you to acknowledge that you cut him off with an "I'm sorry" wave.Jerry: What's that?Kramer: You raise the hand, lower the head-- "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. The buttons are really big on the car. I don't understand it. I haven't read the manual. Ooh!" You get my drift.

And now Jerry Balsam tells me that laser pointers have come under attack with legislation in NYC to make it misdemeanor to improperly use one. This is probably a good idea, since laser light can cause harm if pointed into the eyes.

Here Jerry uses his alias, Kal Varnsen, again, he used is previously in "The Boyfriend (1)". The name Kal is the first name of Jerry's real life father and is also part of Superman's real Kryptonian name "Kal-El", another Superman reference for the series.

The episode caused a bit of stir in the Puerto Rican community, causing NBC to issue an apology and never showing the episode on the network again. The controversy involved Kramer and the flag-burning sequence. This episode is the only episode that was not initially included in the syndication package. In the summer of 2002 the episode has started appearing, with the flag-burning sequence intact. So if you missed it when it aired the first time, you will now have a chance to see it again.

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